Consumers' behaviors and concerns on fresh vegetable purchase and safety in Beijing urban areas, China

• Investigated consumers' behaviors on vegetable purchase and safety in Beijing urban areas.
• Identified the main concerns of consumers on vegetable safety.
• Identified the main considerations of consumers on vegetable purchase.
• Assessed the differences of the consumers' considerations with demographic groups.
• Hope to give some advices on establishing consumer's trust on vegetables in China.

Many studies have measured the perceptions of consumers on different aspects of food safety but only a limited number of studies focused on consumer's perception of vegetable safety risks in developing countries. This study aimed to investigate consumers' behaviors and concerns on vegetable purchase and safety in Beijing urban areas. It identified the factors influencing consumers' behaviors on vegetable purchase, safety and information channel with different demographic groups of consumers. A total 590 of valid questionnaires were collected in this study in January, 2015. The participants of 352 female and 238 male were consumers shopping at the supermarkets in Beijing urban areas. Results indicated that consumers intended to choose their trusted purchasing places to purchase vegetables, and their perceptions of “freshness” (m = 4.61, sd. = 0.78) and “pesticide residues” (m = 4.57, sd. = 0.95) were the top concerns. Female and senior consumers were more concerned about vegetable safety. Consumers who purchase vegetables frequently were more likely to pay attention to food safety and quality than the ones who have never brought vegetables. Consumers used different information channels to get vegetable knowledge. Most consumers used traditional information channels such as TV and broadcasting, while young and well-educated consumers relied more on internet. The findings suggested that some safety control measures need to be taken through the vegetable supply chain to reduce the hazards and ensure vegetable safety, which would help to establish or rebuild consumers' trusts on vegetable safety.